Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Heard of Kickstarter - the funding platform for creative projects? Now YOU can use Kickstarter to support an Okie woman - documentary film maker Kari Barber - who is making a documentary film about two strong-headed Oklahoma sisters from Moore, Oklahoma who travel to Alaska to open a bakery.Filming is complete and Kari has hired an Oklahoma composer and an Alaskan one. She hopes to have the film totally finished by January 1st and will be sending it for color and audio correction services in January to have it ready to begin submitting to festivals by February 1st and planning screening events next spring as well.

Funds raised through Kari's Kickstarter account will pay for the composer, sound and color technicians, and festival fees. Become a supporter of this fun Oklahoma film about Oklahoma women. They need $10,000, have raised $2,400 and have 20 days to go! A $25 donation gets you a digital (downloadable) copy of the film. Give more and get other fun rewards. Check it out at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192822328/baking-alaska-almost-done?ref=card

Last June, I completed my 40th month as chair of the board of directors of the Oklahoma Women's Coalition --- and stepped off the board. We hired a full time Executive Director, Kristin Davis, in February so OWC is in great hands. I decided I was suffering from "founder's syndrome" and decided to get out of Kristin way! Which let me return to my OTHER passion -- mission service in Central Kenya.

Eight years ago a
remarkable member of my church, Florence Mubichi, completed a Masters
in Nursing and returned home to Kenya. Before leaving she said, "Come and see how God is working among my
people.” So in 2005, I was part of an 18-member mission team that renovated a
children's ward at Maua Methodist Hospital near Florence's home.
While there, I asked church leaders, "If I brought a mission team
to Meru, what would you most want us to do?" Eager to promote a
culture of reading, they asked for a community library.

Through the United
Methodist Church's Volunteers in Mission office, I led a mission team to Kenya
in 2006 and two more in 2007. The teams and other friends of the Mubichi family built
the library; sent over 20,000 children's books and
textbooks; purchased furnishings for the library; cataloged 5,000+ books,
and provided support staff to the board of
the Miriam Kanana Mubichi Foundation (MKMF) which was founded by the Mubichis in 2003 after the tragic
death of their middle daughter (see http://mkmf.org/).

Now I am working to ship 120 boxes to MKMF. The boxes contain children's books
donated by Oklahoma students (for impoverished primary schools) and nursing textbooks
donated by OU's College of Nursing (for the nursing school
at Maua Methodist Hospital). Some boxes contain Florence Mubichi's personal
belongings (she died March 22, 2010 from ovarian cancer while working on a PhD
and teaching at OU -- see http://ow.ly/epT2P and http://ow.ly/epTf0html).

The boxes moved from my garage (see image) to a shipping firm to be weighed,
measured and palletized. We anticipate the total shipping expenses to be $4,800.
I have raised $1,400 so far.

I invite you to join in this wonderful mission effort. You can donate $10 or more through the Seeds of Grace Foundation
website (http://www.seedsofgracesite.com/).This 501(c)3 nonprofit was formed in the USA to support MKMF's
work. Or you can mail a check to Seeds of Grace, PO Box
9534, Naperville, IL 60564.